Fires in California #NASA

With most of California in the grips of an unusually severe drought, the state’s fire management authorities are prepared for the worst. The state’s forests and grasslands are parched and primed to burn. All it would take is one stray cigarette or lightning strike—combined with strong winds and hot weather—to unleash a blaze so large or damaging that it ends up in the record books. And yet, so far, the 2014 season has been surprisingly free of such headline-grabbing fires. Californians have certainly seen plenty of fire in 2014. A total of 4,172 fires have burned 83,282 acres (33,703 hectares) since the beginning of the year—far more than usual. For comparison, during the previous five seasons, an average of 3,198 fires burned 57,444 acres (23,247 hectares) by mid-August, according to California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection statistics. But none of the 2014 bl...